Quote:
Originally Posted by JD10367
Wow.
The Jets need to pressure Brady.
But not only that, they need to "beat the guy in front of him".
What a ****ing brain surgeon!
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If Jets want to beat Patriots, Steve Spagnuolo has some insight on how to rattle Tom Brady
BY Ralph Vacchiano
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
January 13, 2011
The Giants defense treats New England quarterback Tom Brady like a ragdoll in Super Bowl XLII, sacking him five times and hitting him more than 15 times in the upset win.
When it was just Steve Spagnuolo sitting in his office with a coach's clicker in his hands, that's when he would worry the most in the days leading up to Super Bowl XLII. He had two weeks to study the New England Patriots offense and try to peek into Bill Belichick's brain.
With every frame of game film, though, he'd return to the same question: How the heck am I going to stop this team?
"Yeah, every time I looked at it," the former Giants defensive coordinator says. "I remember thinking, 'OK, we might have a chance here if we keep them under 30.' Now think about that for a second: I thought we'd be playing good defense if they got 25 or 28 points. It was a daunting, daunting task."
Perhaps, but in the end, Spagnuolo and the Giants found a way to do what few have done in the last decade - beat Patriots QB Tom Brady in a big game. That's what the Jets and Rex Ryan will be trying to do Sunday in Foxborough when they face the Patriots in a divisional playoff showdown.
Speaking from his office in St. Louis, where he's the head coach of the Rams, Spagnuolo still credits "good players and great leadership" - not his defensive game plan - for the Giants' Super Bowl upset. He knows, however, that the way his defense came hard after Brady from the very first snap was a significant factor, too.
"Brady is the key cog that keeps that thing rolling," Spagnuolo says. "I haven't seen them much this year, but my guess is he still is."
Brady didn't put up the record-breaking numbers this season that he did in 2007, but he had what will likely be an MVP season. He completed 65.9% of his passes for 3,900 yards and 36 TDs, with only four INTs. That included a 326-yard, four-TD performance in a 45-3 win over the Jets.
The Jets sacked Brady three times in that game, but weren't able to sustain pressure. If they follow the Giants' example from 2007, Brady will spend much more time on his back. The constant pressure on Brady from Spagnuolo's Super Bowl scheme resulted in five sacks, nine hits, one pass that was deflected at the line of scrimmage and countless other throws that appeared rushed.
Brady still threw for 266 yards in Super Bowl XLII, but he needed 48 attempts (and 29 completions) to do it. He also didn't throw a TD pass until late in the fourth quarter. When Brady got the ball back with 29 seconds remaining in the game, needing about 40 or so yards for a game-tying field-goal attempt, the Giants blitzed him heavily, sacked him once, and the Patriots didn't gain a yard.
Pressure isn't the only answer, Spagnuolo says. Belichick knows the Jets are likely to go after Brady, and the Patriots coach will likely have an answer for every opposing scheme.
"Just saying, 'Hey, we're going to go after Tom Brady' doesn't necessarily work," Spagnuolo says. "I'm sure every team that's played him has thought that way. I'm sure that Rex (Ryan) will do the same thing. He's played them enough. He knows when to go and what not to do.
"But when you go out there and it's time to play the game, it still comes back to the players beating the guy in front of them. That's what it'll come down to. The Patriots are very smart on offense, the Jets do a good job on defense. It'll just be a matter of which side gets more players playing at a high level."
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/fo...o_rattle_.html